Transfer Balance Cap Calculator
Your Personal Cap 2026-27
Work out your personal transfer balance cap after proportional indexation, the space you have left under it, and whether you are in excess. The general cap is $2.1m from 1 July 2026.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: The general transfer balance cap is $2.1m for 2026-27, up from $2m on 1 July 2026. That is the most anyone starting their first retirement-phase pension now can move into the tax-free pension phase.
If you started earlier, your personal cap is lower: it began at the general cap of that day ($1.6m from 2017, $1.7m from 2021, $1.9m from 2023, $2m from 2025) and rises at each indexation only by your unused cap percentage of the increase, worked out from the highest balance your transfer balance account has ever had. Once that highest balance reaches your cap, it never indexes again.
Example: a $1,100,000 pension started on 1 March 2022 (cap $1.7m) leaves 36% unused, so the cap grows to $1,844,000 by 2026-27, with $744,000 of space left. Source: ATO, read 6 October 2026.
What is the transfer balance cap in 2026?
$2.1m for 2026-27 (it was $2m in 2025-26). Your own cap can be lower if you started a pension before 1 July 2026. The calculator below works it out from your pension history.
Your cap 2026-27
$1,844,000
General cap
$2,100,000
Cap space left
$744,000
Unused cap %
36%
Your cap started at $1,700,000 on 1 March 2022. Your highest ever balance is $1,100,000, first reached when your cap was $1,700,000. You can still move $744,000 into retirement phase.
| Indexation | Increase | Unused | Your cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2023 | $200,000 | 36% | $1,772,000 |
| 1 July 2025 | $100,000 | 36% | $1,808,000 |
| 1 July 2026 | $100,000 | 36% | $1,844,000 |
Keep your cap and your balances in view
Your cap only moves on 1 July, but your super, pension and other assets move every day. Richify tracks them together.
Your cap
$1,844,000
Space left
$744,000
Highest balance
$1,100,000
Unused
36%
Last reviewed 6 October 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
This is the textbook answer. Want to see this calculated against your actual accounts?
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Your transfer balance account gets a credit when you start a retirement-phase income stream (its value on the start day) and a debit when you commute part of it back to accumulation or take a lump sum from it. Earnings and regular pension payments do not count. Your personal cap starts at the general cap on the day of your first credit. At each 1 July when the general cap rises, the ATO takes the highest balance your account has ever had, divides it by your cap on the first day you had that balance, rounds down to a whole percentage and subtracts it from 100. You get that unused percentage of the increase. If your highest balance has ever reached your cap, you get no indexation, even if you have since withdrawn money. This engine reproduces the ATO's own worked examples to the dollar.
General transfer balance cap by year
| Financial year | General cap |
|---|---|
| 2026–27 | $2,100,000 |
| 2025–26 | $2,000,000 |
| 2024–25 | $1,900,000 |
| 2023–24 | $1,900,000 |
| 2022–23 | $1,700,000 |
| 2021–22 | $1,700,000 |
| 2020–21 | $1,600,000 |
| 2019–20 | $1,600,000 |
| 2018–19 | $1,600,000 |
| 2017–18 | $1,600,000 |
ATO key superannuation rates and thresholds, Table 26, read 6 October 2026. Indexed to CPI in $100,000 steps. The defined benefit income cap is $131,250 for 2026-27.
Should you top up your pension to use the new cap?
If you have unused cap space and money still in accumulation, moving more into a pension shifts its earnings from 15% tax to 0%. The catch is the high-water mark: the new highest balance resets your unused cap percentage, so a large top-up now can leave little or no indexation later. Starting a pension at the full cap stops your indexation for good. Money above your cap can stay in accumulation, and from 1 July 2026 balances over $3m also face Division 296; see the Division 296 calculator. Before adding after-tax money, check the non-concessional contributions calculator: the cap is nil once your total super balance reaches the general transfer balance cap. To see how long a pension balance lasts at the minimum drawdown rates, use the SMSF pension phase calculator.
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How to use this calculator
- Enter the date your first retirement-phase pension started and the amount moved into it.
- If you started a second pension later, add its date and value.
- If you commuted part of a pension back to accumulation or took a lump sum from it, add that date and amount.
- Read your personal cap for 2026-27, the space you have left, and how each 1 July indexation was worked out.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the transfer balance cap for 2026-27?
The general transfer balance cap is $2.1m from 1 July 2026. It applies in full to anyone who starts their first retirement-phase income stream on or after that date.
People who already had a pension have a personal cap between $1.6m and $2.1m, depending on when they started and how much of their cap they have used.
How is my personal transfer balance cap indexed?
Only by a share of each increase. Divide the highest balance your transfer balance account has ever had by your cap on the day you first had that balance, round down to a whole percentage, and subtract it from 100.
That unused cap percentage times the $100,000 (or $200,000 in 2023) increase is added to your cap. If your highest balance ever reached your cap, you get nothing, even if you later withdraw.
Do investment earnings and pension payments count?
No. Your transfer balance account records what goes INTO retirement phase (credits) and certain things that come out of it, mainly commutations back to accumulation or lump sums (debits). Investment growth and regular pension payments do not change it, so a pension that grows from $1.5m to $2.4m does not breach the cap.
What happens if I go over my transfer balance cap?
The ATO issues a determination and you must commute the excess, plus notional earnings on it, back to accumulation or out of super. You also pay excess transfer balance tax on those earnings: 15% the first time, 30% for any later breach.
The earnings accrue daily at the general interest charge base rate (the 90-day bank bill yield plus 7 percentage points).
Does the transfer balance cap limit how much super I can have?
No. It limits how much you can move into the tax-free retirement phase. Anything above your cap can stay in accumulation, where earnings are taxed at up to 15%.
Separately, from 1 July 2026 Division 296 adds tax on earnings for total super balances over $3m.
Where can I see my own transfer balance cap?
In myGov: open the ATO online services, select Super, then Information, then Transfer balance cap. It shows your personal cap, your account balance and your available cap space as your funds have reported them.
This calculator rebuilds the same numbers from your own records.
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Further Reading
Your Pension, Your Cap and Your Balance in One View
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